True Church Conference 2012

God in Christ forgave you. This is the essence of the doctrines of grace. The doctrines of grace are not hidden under the rocks of scripture. They are on top of the rocks. The text tonight is not primarily about the doctrines of grace, it is about the grace of the doctrines. We are woefully deficient in practicing the grace of the doctrines of grace. We must be broken-hearted over our lack of practicing the grace of the doctrines of grace. Do we operate with grace with whom we disagree?

A. The grace of kindness

1. This particular word is used quite sparingly in the scriptures.

a. In 1 Corinthians 13 it is used to describe how members of a church are to receive one another in regard to their use of spiritual gifts.

i. We will not all share the same views. But a spirit of Christian love must pervade. We must be kind to one another.

True Church Conference 2012

Q. If you were coming into a new church that needed reformation, where would you start.

JN: Give your greatest energy to the pulpit. Preach to convert the lost. And then put energy into small groups. Have accountability among the small group leaders. Anticipate the need for church discipline because it will arise.

RH: Be patient and wait on the word of God to do work in the people’s lives. You will see fruit.

Q: How to know when going from preaching to implementing?

BB: When it came time to deal with regenerate active membership and church discipline.

RH: We are long on theology and short on application. We need to practice what the word of God says.

Q: Are there issues that should not be tackled first?

BK: A leadership change (i.e., moving to elder lead) would not be a good first move. Practical biblical exposition must come first. We need to think about change in terms of decades.

RH: Don’t start by preaching Calvinism and Aminianism.

DM: Begin with the importance of wisdom in our preaching. Don’t be dumb all of your life. You need to gain and maintain credibility with people. It is hard to reform a church, it is near impossible to regain credibility with a church once it has been lost.

JN: We need to work on biblical conflict resolution early on.

Q; How do you know the difference between difficult sheep and a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

BB: It is difficult. It takes spending time with the people. Look at their reception of the Word of God. They may disagree with the pastor and still love the Word.

RH: There is a difference between misunderstanding and obstinacy.

Q: From a morale standpoint, how do you encourage those who have had friends and family who have left the church over doctrinal issues?

BK: We must preach the doctrines of grace and practice the grace of the doctrines of grace. Those who have left need to be treated with grace. We are too quick to shun others.

RH: We need to love people who leave because many of them will return.

Q: About times of hardship, difficult seasons…how do you endure these times without quitting? Are there strategies to deal with the storms?

DM: We are not alone in our tribulations. Some of the greatest saints have been beset through history – Spurgeon, for instance. Tribulations are unique. It is easy to discuss this matter on the “post” side. It takes maturity to glorify God in the midst of tribulation. But it is easy to bless God for his Son Jesus Christ.

Q: What is the next step of reformation in your local church?

BK: The post-reformation generation. The children of those who went through the reformation must not just accept this as the way we do things. They will tend to revert back if the reformation is taken as staus quo. Each generation must understand that reformation is biblical.

RH: Young and restless Calvinists. They want to add to the reformation. And they may not understand the doctrines of grace, they just want to be a part of a reformed church. They are following a man and not following the Bible.

True Church Conference 2012

The man of God should seek to persuade others of his integrity. It is not enough to preach the word, it must be done with sincerity.

The context of the text is insurrection. Man is in rebellion against his creator. And the enmity that man has for God was not instigated by God at all. Man had no reason to rebel against God. And man took no initiative in reconciliation. God initiated reconciliation. In fact, sinful man cannot seek reconciliation.

A. A new spiritual perception (see verse 16)

1. We regard no one according to the flesh. No more carnality. Turn away from the flesh.

2. We do not look upon Jesus Christ after the way of the flesh.

3. The outer man is perishing, but the inner man is being renewed day by day.

B. A new spiritual persuasion (verse 17)

1. We are in Christ. What does it mean to be in Christ?

a. to belong to Christ

b. to be a member of Christ

c. to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ

d. to be judged according to the imputed righteousness of Christ

2. We are to live in the power of Christ.

C. A new spiritual prescription (verse 17)

1. A new creation comes from an alien imputed righteousness.

2. Man’s original righteousness was lost in the fall of Adam.

3. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is far greater than the righteousness that could have come from Adam.

1. The charge is given in the name of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.

2. The reference is accountability to an avenging God and His judge, His Son Jesus Christ.

3. The charge is given in view of the kingdom of Jesus Christ and its soon appearing on earth.

4. We should tremble when we think about the charge to preach the word.

B. The charge to consistency in the work (2 Timothy 4:2)

1. Preach the word in season and out of season.

2. We are too weak in the pulpit. We say “It’s no use” too easily.

C. The charge to endure hardship (2 Timothy 4:5)

1. We need to endure in overcoming dullness.

2. There are times people will not endure the teaching of sound doctrine.

3. There will be times of desertion (verse 3). People will turn away to teachers who tickle their unsettled ears. We must not become preachers who give the wayward what they are looking for. We must be preachers who give the wayward what they need.

4. There will be divisions (verse 4). Too many groups and factions are built around men and man’s teaching.

5. There will be depression. Depression is rooted in self and rooted in pride. It comes from the fear of man.

D. The charge to the continuity of the work (2 Timothy 4:6-8)

1. Preaching is a continuum. We must be faithful in our place and faithful to bring up those after us.

True Church Conference 2012

Message 2 – Brett Beasley – Reforming a Church to Biblical Health

The text for the sermon was Acts 20:25-31.

The apostle Paul is speaking to those who had been chosen to lead the church at Ephesus. It was a challenge to them. Striving to reform a church to biblical health is: 1) Constant, 2) Costly and 3) Worthy.

A. The Call of the Man of God

1. The call of man by God is a divine call. It is a call that can be given by God alone.

2. The call is to be a shepherd of the church. To watch over the flock of Jesus Christ.

3. The call is to watch yourselves. Continual self-examination.

a. Ezekiel gives examples of all these items above. Ezekiel was called by God. Ezekiel was called to be a watchman. Ezekiel was called to confront the corrupt priests of the day.

b. See Acts 20:29. Fierce wolves will come in and will not spare the flock.

4. The call is to share the word of God. See Acts 20:26-27.

B. The Care for the Church of God

1. The care cannot be divorced from the call.
2. We are to pay careful attention to the flock. We are to watch out for the souls of the flock. It requires tireless effort. We are called to be stewards of the purchase of Jesus Christ that He purchased by His blood.
3. We must feed the flock.
4. There is never a moment when the shepherd does not think about his sheep.
5. No title without the task, no role without the responsibility.

C. Reforming a Church to Biblical Health

1. Why does the church need to be reformed to biblical health?

a. The doctrines are deficient in the church.
b. The culture has ravaged the church.
c. The scriptures are deficient in the church.
d. The church, if left to itself, will drift, like sheep without a shepherd.

2. What are the struggles with reforming a church to biblical health?

a. You will struggle with the flesh. This is because of the fear of man. We must not be concerned with our own reputation. We must not seek the approval of man, whether that be the congregation or peers.
b. You will struggle with opposition
c. Sound doctrine can unify, but is can also divide.
d. Preaching the word of God will have varying affects on people.

3. Reforming a church to biblical health comes with a high personal cost.

a. There is the cost of divisions.
b. There is the cost of desertions.
c. There is the cost of loss of friendships.
d. There is the cost to the pastor’s wife.

4. Reforming a church to biblical health requires grace.

a. We must remember that not all in the congregation will be at the same place we are – in beliefs, in biblical understanding.

5. There is joy in seeing Christ reform a church.

a. But we must stay the course.

6. Pastoring means loving the sheep.

a. Some of the sheep are difficult. Some require a little more shepherding.

7. Treasure Jesus Christ and make much of him.

a. its about Jesus Christ and his glory.
b. We need to stay with our first love.

True Church Conference 2012

The text for the sermon is John 1:14-18. The subject of the sermon is the glory of Jesus Christ.

A. A definition of the glory of Jesus.

There are two words translated glory. The Hebrew word “kabode” – meaning “heavy” or “weighty”. This deal with the visible manifestations of God. The Greek word is “doxa”, it means to ascribe worth or worship. The words of Jesus are full of grace and truth. And Jesus Himself is full of grace of truth.

“The glory of Jesus is the sum total of all His attributes and deeds which separates and distinguishes Him from all other beings.” – Miller

B. A delineation of the glory of Jesus.

The text gives us four things that distinguish Jesus Christ:

1. The person of Jesus distinguishes Him. See John 1:1-3. He is the logos, the express image of the Godhead, the visible manifestation of the invisible deity. He is co-eternal with the Father, co-existent with the Father, and co-equal with the Father.

2. The prerogative of Jesus distinguishes Him. See John 1:14. God became flesh. And He dwelt among men. Man does not possess this kind of prerogative. Man cannot make himself God. But Jesus can make Himself man.

a. the meaning of the incarnation – the joining of the divine nature with a human nature.

b. the means of the incarnation – it was a miracle, supernatural, inexplicable

c. the motive of the incarnation – so that Jesus might be touched the feelings of our infirmity, so that He might be our kinsman-redeemer

i. He must be worthy

ii. He must be wealthy

iii. He must be willing

3. The preferment of Jesus distinguishes Him. See John 1:15. The one who comes after John is preferred over John because He came before John. And we prefer Jesus over this world.

4. The plentitude (fullness) of Jesus distinguishes Him. See John 1:16. Wave after wave of grace. Grace piled on top of grace.

C. A design of the glory of Jesus.

No man has ever seen God. But Jesus Christ has declared before us God. See John 1:18. There have been some revelations of God. For instance, creation. But creation can only condemn, it cannot redeem. The law reveals the holiness of God. But the law can only condemn, it cannot redeem. But then Jesus came. We learned things about God that were never seen before. What were types and shadows were revealed in the true light.

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First Things First

The most important fact necessary before reading this website is to examine yourself to see if you are a Christian. If you are not a Christian, much of this would be ‘Foolishness’ to you.
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1 Cor 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
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If you are not a Christian then I recommend reading the following:

What is a Berean?

Acts 17:11
"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." NIV

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